Family of five escape morning fire

A working smoke alarm is being credited with saving a family of five from serious injuries during an early morning fire in east London.

Firefighters were called to a home on Vancouver Street shortly before 9 am Tuesday morning..

The fire started in the living room. It is believed a lamp caught fire. Members of the family were alerted to the fire by a smoke alarm near the bedroom. They were able to put the fire out themselves by carrying buckets of water from the bathroom.

“I think there would be a very different result without smoke alarms” said Captain Michael Braley of the London Fire Department. “Without it we would have had a much larger fire and we probably would have had some casualties.”

Firefighters are not sure why the lamp caught on fire. There was no estimate of the damage to the home.